Regulated marijuana trial plans should be bigger, says Council of State

Draft legislation is due to be debated in parliament this autumn
Dutch News (Netherlands)
Friday, July 20, 2018

The government’s highest advisory body, the Council of State, has thrown its weight behind criticism of plans to begin trials of regulated marijuana production in the Netherlands. The organisation says the experiment should be bigger than the government has determined, a criticism made last month by a panel of experts set up to develop the proposals. The Council of State, which points out the experiment conflicts with European law and United Nations’ treaties, states that the trial must be ‘useful, believable and scientific’ to have any merit. But the experiment as now planned – with just six to 10 councils taking part over a four year period – will not be big enough to allow useful conclusions to be drawn, the council said.